How to beat Djoker in best of 5?

Almost every player has a weaker area which an opponent can attack and take advantage of. One can just spam balls at Federer's BH (provided you can do it consistently enough) and it tends to break down sometime or the other in the rally (something what Nadal and Djokovic do against him quite successfully). Anyone with big serve and big groundies on a good day can blow Rafa off the court as he doesn't really have a reliable ROS or BH. Some instances - Rosol vs nadal at Wimbly 12, Soderling vs Nadal at RG 09, Del potro vs Nadal at USO 09, Tsonga vs Nadal at AO 2008)

But seriously how to beat this guy Djokovic. He doesn't have any glaring weakness (except his overhead maybe :twisted which an opponent can pounce on. Unbelievable retrieving, great ROS, arguably the best BH today, very reliable FH, more than decent serve. I know most of the guys here are Federer fans and might argue Federer is capable of beating him that but the reality is Djoker has lost like only 1 match against Federer in last 2 years and the only reason Federer managed to do it was because of lighter balls at RG 2011. He had a really good chance at USO but blew it big time. Don't really see him recovering mentally now after that loss against Djoker especially at this age.

So is the only way to beat Djoker in best of 5 is to grind it out in a 4-5 hour slugfest? Only guys capable of hanging with him for 4-5 hours are Nadal and maybe Murray (to a lesser extent though). How to beat this guy :shock: ?

Funny thing is he is still quite dangerous on an off day. Wasn't playing particularly good at RG final but still gave Rafa fits. So I guess he needs to have an off day and the opponent needs to have a really good day to beat him :roll:

Funny thing is he is still quite dangerous on an off day. Wasn't playing particularly good at RG final but still give Rafa fits. So I guess he needs to have an off day and the opponent needs to have a really good day to beat him :roll:

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The only people who can beat below par Nole over 5 sets is Nadal/Fed but they'll need to play great to do so. Nadal was lucky at the French but you can only beat what's in front of you on the day and Nadal did that so kudos to him.

Nope. It's impossible to beat Rolaids in best of 5. I don't really care what happened at RG since it was a one off. It won't be happening again anytime soon.

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You don't understand the meaning of impossible. Whatever excuses you make for your favourite playing winning, it was possible for Djokovic to lose, cos he lost. Simple logic that eludes you. Or more likely you just wanna troll.

It is? How many best of 5 matches has he lost over the last year and a half? 3. Yep,only 3. And one of them was by retirement at DC last fall. If that's not unbeatable in best of five I don't know what is.

It is? How many best of 5 matches has he lost over the last year and a half? 3. Yep,only 3. And one of them was by retirement at DC last fall. If that's not unbeatable in best of five I don't know what is.

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Unbeatable means you don't get beaten, not you only get beaten 3 times over the last year and a half.

Impossible means it's not possible, not it's only possible 3 times over the last year and a half.

You only get 4 slams a year plus DC so 3 losses is far from unbeatable.

Also funny that when I brought up impressive unbeatable stats like that for Nadal on clay, you ignored them. Clarky the biased in action again :lol:

You don't understand the meaning of impossible. Whatever excuses you make for your favourite playing winning, it was possible for Djokovic to lose, cos he lost. Simple logic that eludes you. Or more likely you just wanna troll.

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I'm not trolling. I am serious. If my math is correct,out of his last 46 best of 5 matches he has only lost 3. I really fail to understand how you think that's not practically untouchable in best of 5 because imo,it is.

Beating Djokovic is the most difficult thing to do in tennis. He returns serves extremely well, his backhand is the best in the world, he has a really effective forehand, he is almost impossible to get by through defence; in short, just unplayable. There is just no beating him.

Murray has the best chance because he is equally good in all areas, but apart from him, no one is beating Djokovic.

I wish that would work,but it''s hard to do that over the 5 sets it's going to take to beat him. The same thing used to be able to be said about Nadal before the severe decline. It's just almost impossible to beat Rolaids anywhere these days,much less in best of 5.

Novak really just has to have an off day. Because as we've seen time and time again can see, when he is up against the wall, the last thing he will do is get tentative. And this is when he has played some of his best tennis. So whatever strategy anyone employs, he's going to jump on the offensive the first opportunity he gets and make you work even harder.

So unless you're a current surface legend in your prime or have a superior serving day like Fed did at RG last year, you might not get the W. In short, you have to play the perfect match and maintain your strategy from first ball to last.

I'm not trolling. I am serious. If my math is correct,out of his last 46 best of 5 matches he has only lost 3. I really fail to understand how you think that's not practically untouchable in best of 5 because imo,it is.

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He's obviously going to win most best of 5 set matches because he goes deep in slams. If we go back 6 slams and include DC vs Delpo, that's still 3 losses out of 7 tournaments. No matter how many matches he won at RG 2011 and 2012 he still ended up being beatable.

plus quickly doing the maths and I may be wrong, but before nadal started Wimbledon this year, in his last 47 best of 5 matches he'd only lost 4. So almost the same as Djokovic only losing 3 out of 46. Which means Nadal was also practically unbeatable yet you've been writing hi off for the past year.

Djokovic 43-3
Nadal - 43-4

maybe someone can double check these figures.

Anyway he's very hard to beat, we know that. Been the hardest to beat over the last 18 months, but not impossible.

Beating Djokovic is the most difficult thing to do in tennis. He returns serves extremely well, his backhand is the best in the world, he has a really effective forehand, he is almost impossible to get by through defence; in short, just unplayable. There is just no beating him.

Murray has the best chance because he is equally good in all areas, but apart from him, no one is beating Djokovic.

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It's amazing to hear these posts nowadays because three years people were saying he is an inconsistent joke now he has no weaknesses. I guess the story is to never write someone off too early in sport but especially in tennis.

It is? How many best of 5 matches has he lost over the last year and a half? 3. Yep,only 3. And one of them was by retirement at DC last fall. If that's not unbeatable in best of five I don't know what is.

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You clearly do not understand the meaning of the words "impossible" and "unbeatable".

He's obviously going to win most best of 5 set matches because he goes deep in slams. If we go back 6 slams and include DC vs Delpo, that's still 3 losses out of 7 tournaments. No matter how many matches he won at RG 2011 and 2012 he still ended up being beatable.

plus quickly doing the maths and I may be wrong, but before nadal started Wimbledon this year, in his last 47 best of 5 matches he'd only lost 4. So almost the same as Djokovic only losing 3 out of 46. Which means Nadal was also practically unbeatable yet you've been writing hi off for the past year.

Djokovic 43-3
Nadal - 43-4

maybe someone can double check these figures.

Anyway he's very hard to beat, we know that. Been the hardest to beat over the last 18 months, but not impossible.

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Nadal is not the same player he used to be. Sorry,but he is very beatable anywhere,and that includes best of 5. You really cannot compare the two because one is so much more inferior to the other.

If we talk best of 5 sets on grass then it`s about serving really well,not giving Djokovic a lot of rhythm and going for broke on the return games.
We`ve seen yesterday with Stepanek what can happen if the set is tight at 4-4 or 5-4.Obviously Stepanek couldn`t keep it going but against someone else if all the sets are tight u never know.
Djokovic is a good returner but still if his opponent is serving well it`s no gimme to get the break of serve.And then it will be a lot more pressure on his service games.And we`ve seen Djokovic get tight if the scoreline is tight at 4-4 or 5-5.

Tsonga has given Nole trouble in long matches before. I think the key against Novak is to be attacking, unpredictable, and not let home settle in to his rhythm. When he's on and his head is in the match, it is definitely a big ask to beat Novak, but the people who have shown the greatest success have been the players that aren't content to settle into endless baseline rallies.

you need his SF to be a huge 5 set epic (ala AO 2012), and then you have a chance in the final. Unfortunately for Butt Picker he wasn't good enough to finish Novak off in the final. If FedGimp takes nole to 5 then tsonga/Murray have a chance. Thats the way

novak is not unbeatable in best of 5. you just have to stick with him from the baseline, not over play, but force him back. tsonga and seppi both had the chance to beat him at rg, but choked.. novak also barely got past rafa and murray at AO and fed at USO last year. then theres the losses to fed and rafa at rg.

the one thing we should no by now is that once you get ahead on novak, you better put him away, because when losing he is like a dangerous wounded animal.